Horror News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

This feature on Ridley Scott’s Alien and the franchise it launched was originally published as part of a package on the most beloved villains in science fiction . It has been updated and republished to celebrate Alien returning to movie theaters for an anniversary run.

Survios, the team behind PSVR games CREED: Rise to Glory, Sprint Vector, and The Walking Dead Onslaught, has today revealed it's working on a new PSVR2 game set in the Alien universe called Alien: Rogue Incursion. It is described as an «intense single-player, action horror game», set to release for Sony's VR headset later this year alongside Meta Quest 3 and Steam VR versions.

A spooky crossover has just dropped. The Identity V x Little Nightmares event runs till May 23rd. And it’s going to drag Six and Mono from Little Nightmares right into the eerie world of Identity V. These two kids are about to find themselves in a whole new nightmare, and you can snag their classic looks while you’re at it.

Famed game developer Shinji Mikami, known for directing the original Resident Evil and The Evil Within, has revealed why he left his former studio Tango Gameworks despite founding it himself.

Perhaps two good American Horror Story seasons in a row was too much to ask for.

We love movie recommendations here at Polygon. Whether it’s horror, sci-fi, action, comedy, thrillers, or just the best of the year, we’re always trying to introduce readers to new and exciting movies they’ll love. But now we want to find the perfect movie for you. (That’s you.)

The gray irradiated flesh of ghouls in Falloutserves as a living testament to the horrors of a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by nuclear warfare. It makes sense that ghouls, people and animals who have zombified due to exposure to radiation, have been a fixture of the Fallout series since its inception, all melted flesh and exposed organs. Now, they come to life in Prime Video’s new TV show, Fallout.

Just yesterday, we brought you word that the upcoming PS5 exclusive, Stellar Blade, would be released in all regions entirely uncensored, including Japan, which developer ShiftUp seemed especially pleased with. An executive at Electronic Arts Japan has called out what they see as a double standard with the Japanese Computer Entertainment Rating Organization (CERO), stating that «I find this hard to accept.»

Wired Productions will publish Chinese developer Pollard Studio‘s psychological horror game KARMA: The Dark World for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC (Steam, Epic Games Store, GOG), the company announced. A release date was not announced.

As the weather (hopefully) turns nicer and the days get longer, it’s hard to think about being inside watching TV. Which is why it’s good that this week’s offerings are so easy to pop on at your leisure: Whether it’s the charms of Netflix’s Dead Boy Detectives — based on a comic written by Neil Gaiman — or the hard-won pleasures of Shōgun’s final episode, or even the fighting spirit of We’re Here season 4 or Knuckles, there’s a lot to love this week.

At the end of last year I played the demo for An English Haunting and got very excited. I like horror that has a generally spooky, creeping dread vibe rather than being wall-to-wall cheap jumpscares and gore, and that sort of stuff is thin on the ground. But it'll be less so from May the 15th, cos that's when this ghosty point and click puzzle adventure is out! Hooray! The demo is still on Steam if you want a taste before then. In the meantime, the release date announcement comes with a new trailer to enjoy.

Queer cinema has always been in a state of continual evolution, but the evolution of trans depiction has come slower, even during agreed-upon golden eras of queer cinema. But in 2024, we are in the midst of a potentially new movement in which three trans-authored films are reshaping the possibilities of what a trans film looks like, and how transness can be expressed in cinema.

Baby Reindeer, now streaming on Netflix, has become a viral sensation in the week since its largely unheralded release, both in its native U.K. and beyond. It’s easy to understand why; this true story about a struggling comedian and his stalker — written by and starring Richard Gadd and based on his own life — is darkly funny, propulsive, tragic, and peppered with unbelievable turns of events. It mixes the voyeuristic thrill of true crime with the emotional gut punch of memoir. It’s almost impossible not to binge this miniseries in fascinated horror.

El Paso, Elsewhere, one of Digital Trends’ favorite indie games of 2023, now has a film adaptation in the works.

Since our last content update, players unshackled themselves in the Iron Gambit Battle Pass, slew through Survivor’s Bane, and showered themselves in rewards from the new Event Center cycle. This content update introduces the Legions of Horror limited-time event, new Five-Star Legendary Gem, a new Familiar, New Legendary Affixes, and more.

The general manager of EA Japan has criticised the Japanese ratings board for what he believes are discrepancies in the way Dead Space and Stellar Blade have been rated.

A striking fan artwork combines Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse with a horror classic, potentially combining captivating elements into the highly anticipated animated film.

We've suffered some body blows recently, but perhaps none will ever be as winding as the news I now deliver to you: Alice0 is leaving RPS. She recently celebrated 10 years here, so that should tell you something about how much of an influence she's had over the tone of the site over it's lifespan. Truly, the site won't be the same without her - so let's take the opportunity to celebrate here work here.

Ever since Silent Hill 2 Remake was announced, fans have been rather difficult to please. Taking one of the best horror games ever made and remaking it to modern standards was always going to be a tough job for any developers brave enough to take it on, but Bloober Team has struggled to impress with trailers and pre-release footage.

As the calendar continues its ceaseless onward march, Epic has announced its next batch of weekly Epic Games Store freebies, which this time look very much like Cold War shooter Industria and post-apocalyptic RPG bundle Lisa: Definitive Edition.

Insert Coin already has a lot of officially licensed collections featuring merch inspired by some of the world's biggest and best video games, but it has really been on a roll when it comes to expanding on those collections and adding new ones so far in 2024. Introducing a new game or series to its family on an almost weekly basis, today marks the arrival of another Insert Coin debut. The site's first-ever Doki Doki Literature Club collection and everything included in the range is available now.

Bloober Team has seemingly amended the face of James Sunderland in its highly-anticipated Silent Hill 2 Remake.

Greetings, Polygon readers! Each week, we round up the most notable new releases to streaming and VOD, highlighting the biggest and best new movies for you to watch at home.

It looks like publisher Konami and developer Bloober Team have redesigned the main character in their Silent Hill 2 remake, and fans are taking the news pretty well.

In RimWorld, you play as crash-landed survivors who have to eke out a new existence on a hostile planet, surviving and perhaps thriving between raider attacks, AI uprisings, and swarms of hostile insects. The game has a handful of expansions with new events, and the latest, Anomaly, is the scariest one yet. If you only have the spare scratch to pick up one RimWorld expansion, Anomaly is by far your best choice.

If you're looking for something new to watch this weekend, you're in luck: whether you're in the mood for a movie night or a new binge-watch, Netflix, Disney Plus, Hulu, and more are stacked with new releases.

If the new Alone in the Dark PS5 reboot has given you a classic survival horror itch, then Sony's subscription service PS Plus Premium is looking to scratch it. Available from Tuesday, 16th April 2024, the old PS1 terror Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare will be available to members on the top tier, complete with all the bells and whistles that come with the re-releases Sony accepts on the service. It's joined by MediEvil and Star Wars: Rebel Assault II: The Hidden Empire on the same day.

Darkest Dungeon 2, the sequel to developer Red Hook Studios' acclaimed Lovecraftian roguelike RPG, is launching for PlayStation 5 and PS4 on 15th July.

The first trailer for M. Night Shyamalan's Trap is here – and it looks like a wild ride.

Vampires are some of our most malleable monsters. They can be lonely kids, lonely teens, misunderstood lovers, mass murderers, leather-clad drifters, regular dudes, or just about anything in between. All that flexibility (and the ability, often, to pass as human) means vampires can also come as a complete surprise to both audiences and the characters in the movies themselves, waiting until more than halfway through a movie before they really sink their teeth in. That special and narrow niche of surprise vampire movies, like From Dusk Till Dawnor A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, is the exact landing point for Abigail, the hilarious new action-horror movie from the directors of Ready or Not.

The classic survival horror game Dementium: The Ward is finally coming to non-portable consoles and will be released on PS4 and PS5 on April 19. Developed by Renegade Kid, Dementium: The Ward originally released on the Nintendo DS in 2007 and received a 3DS port in 2015. While the game received overall mixed reviews when it first launched, it has gained somewhat of a cult following and is now considered by many to have been generally underrated.

Steel Wool Studios will release Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted 2 for PlayStation 5 on June 20, the developer announced.

We love movie recommendations here at Polygon. Whether it’s horror, sci-fi, action, comedy, thrillers, or just the best of the year, we’re always trying to introduce readers to new and exciting movies they’ll love. But now we want to find the perfect movie for you. (That’s you.)

With Alpha upon us, we got an early preview of the new 10v10 Battleground, Deephaul Ravine, coming in the The War Within.

Acclaimed walking simulator game The Exit 8 is now available for Switch via Nintendo eShop for $3.99, publisher PLAYISM and developer KOTAKE CREATE announced.

An unofficial Star Wars horror game has showed us what a zombie apocalypse would be like in a galaxy far, far away, and it's just as disturbing as you're expecting. 

If you’ve been following indie publisher Annapurna Interactive over the last two years, you might be familiar with Lorelei and the Laser Eyes. The new project from Sayonara Wild Hearts developer Simogo has gotten a spotlight at a handful of live-stream showcases since 2022, with trailers teasing its eerie tone and puzzling world. While we’ve known those details for a while, there’s still one burning question that remains: What the hell is it?

PlayStation era throwback survival horror game Crow Country will launch for Xbox Series alongside its previously announced PlayStation 5 and PC (Steam) versions on May 9, developer SFB Games announced. A demo is currently available.

Given that they worked together on two Scream movies beforehand, it's impossible not to compare Melissa Barrera's newest horror collaboration with directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett to the Ghostface-fronted franchise. Abigail, the trio's latest, is similar in tone, too, as its characters try to make sense of the bonkers situation they've found themselves in through vampire pop culture.

In 2023, Strange Scaffold released El Paso, Elsewhere, a horror-tinged throwback to the likes of Max Payne that also told a deeply personal and unsettling story about a toxic relationship. Its next game, Life Eater, puts players in the shoes of a serial killer seeking out new targets to kill and sacrifice to a god he’s starting to question the existence of. This isn’t a Manhunt- or Hitman-style stalk-and-kill game; it offers a feeling of detachment by having players parse through timelines to learn everything they need to abduct and properly sacrifice a target.

Horror master Mike Flanagan has high praise for The First Omen, the sixth installment in the cult classic franchise.

Co-op smash-hit Lethal Company has received its first update in a couple of months, and it’s a biggie! Version 50 brings a new map and some new creatures to contend with, alongside some changes that make being a shovel-wielding monster-slayer or speedrunning the game a bit less easy.

It's not every day you get to use both the 'sports' and 'horror' tags for the same game. Pool of Madness, an upcoming eldritch pool game where your surroundings get more bizarre and maddening the longer you play, is the latest game to crowbar Lovecraft into a place where no Lovecraft existed previously. It’s also the latest game to make me, someone who’s ostensibly had enough Lovecraft for one lifetime think: actually, yes, go on then.

Content Warning publisher Landfall Games has announced the viral Steam hit has sold an impressive one million copies even after its eye-catching free launch period.

The director of Nicolas Cage’s new survival horror movie Arcadian has shockingly revealed that the movie’s distinctive monster is actually inspired by a very well-known and beloved animated character… Disney’s Goofy. 

Gun Interactive has confirmed a fix for Texas Chain Saw Massacre's latest Victim is on the way.

Publisher Vaka Game Magazine and developer ImCyan have released PlayStation 4 (PlayStation Store) and Switch (Nintendo eShop) versions of horror game Evil God Korone for $4.49.

«Bring out the party poopers» – Content Warning has sold over one million copies.

Few weeks of any year are bigger or more important for the business of movies than CinemaCon. The annual gathering gives studios, theater owners, and exhibition-minded tech companies a chance to show off the most exciting developments in the movie business. But while the innovations that debut at CinemaCon may have important implications for the theaters where viewers get their film fix, the biggest news out of the convention almost always comes from the stage presentations, where studios show off their biggest gambles.

The Giant Evil Faces are here, and you’ve got to survive! This Roblox horror game pits you against a horde of floating monsters that all want to bite you. It’s a bit scary, but don’t despair! Our guide on how to play GEF Roblox gives you the lowdown on the basics so you won’t be left alone and confused in the doomed town.

Some new videogame releases pounce on us like excitable Golden Retrievers, while others become apparent to us more insidiously, like undead Golden Retrievers creeping back from the grave to do their master's bidding unto eternity. Withering Rooms is one of the latter: released out of early access last week, and noticed by me just yesterday, it's a haunted mansion metroidvania in which you are a small girl in a nightie who must use meat cleavers, pentagrams and spells of self-enlargement or possession or incineration to overcome various monsters of the Silently Hilly and/or Residentially Evil persuasion. No, none of the monsters are Golden Retrievers.

Following rumours that EA had cancelled a Dead Space 2 Remake project at EA Motive, the publisher has taken the unusual step of shooting down the story with a public statement. Dead Space 2 remake wasn’t cancelled… because it never existed.

The new free-to-play horror game Deceit 2 has just been released for Xbox. Deceit 2 is a free-to-play social deduction horror game, essentially playing like a horror version of Among Us in which players need to gather clues to discover who is trying to kill them, and could be a fine addition for Xbox players.

Baldur’s Gate 3 has won the award for best game at the 2024 BAFTA Awards.

Peach Momoko's Ultimate X-Men is starting to feel more and more like an X-Men comic with April 10's Ultimate X-Men #2, which starts to add in some recognizable mutant elements to the alt-reality title.

The first time I played Amnesia: The Dark Descent, I had to put it down and walk away. I’m a big fan of horror games, and I don’t usually put them down unless they’re unplayable or just bad. The Dark Descent was different, though, a game that freaked me out so badly that I had to turn the lights on and just sit in that glow until I could catch my breath. My vision had become too dark; I was out of oil for my lantern; and there were cracking noises coming from somewhere off screen. I hadn’t been taken aback by a jump scare or a disturbing creature. I was just unnerved, tense, and extremely uncomfortable. So, you know, the best way to be scared.

Players of wacky co-op horror game Content Warning are being asked by publisher Landfall if their wildest recordings can be used for a lost footage project which would see it hidden in-game for other players to find.

We love movie recommendations here at Polygon. Whether it’s horror, sci-fi, action, comedy, thrillers, or just the best of the year, we’re always trying to introduce readers to new and exciting movies they’ll love. But now we want to find the perfect movie for you. (That’s you.)

Following the news that EA Motive's team responsible for last year's Dead Space remake would work on the Battlefield franchise going forward (alongside the previously announced Iron Man game), fans of the horror franchise were left wondering whether a Dead Space 2 remake would still happen.

The highly anticipated Nosferatu remake has had its first trailer unveiled behind closed doors at CinemaCon, and it sounds as though it’s just as terrifying as the original. 

Get ready to duck and dive because Witch Cry 2: The Red Hood is out now. It’s aimed straight at those of you who get a kick out of a good scare. Keplerians Horror Games has dropped this spooky treat on Android as a free game, just like its prequel.

A second report has claimed that the Dead Space franchise is on hold after sales of the most recent game failed to meet EA’s expectations.

Five Nights at Freddy’s, the mostly reviled 2023 horror game adaptation that was also a colossal financial hit, is coming back to movie theaters. Universal Pictures announced a Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 during its CinemaCon 2024 presentation on Wednesday.

A new Blair Witch Project movie is in the works from horror mega studio Blumhouse.

Plans for a Dead Space 2 remake have reportedly been shelved after the first game failed to deliver commercially.

Horror dating sim sequel from DreadXP and Joseph “Akabaka” Hunter has a release date.

The PC version of Softstar Entertainment-developed horror game The Bridge Curse 2: The Extrication will launch via Steam on May 9, publisher PQube announced. The PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and Switch versions will follow later in 2024.

The First Omen director Arkasha Stevenson has opened up on the new horror movie's craziest scene – and no, we don't mean that gnarly, much-talked about demon birth.

Five Nights at Freddy's 2 is officially underway – and fans think the puppeteers over at Jim Henson's Creature Shop are crafting a fan-favorite protagonist.

This month's RPS Game Club pick is Lethal Company, the indie co-op horror game where you must collect scrap for a mysterious Company or face the ultimate penalty... being fired.

Black Salt Games and Story Kitchen announced their intention to make a movie based on the 2023 horror indie game hit Dredge.

Dredge, the indie adventure game released in 2023 that paired Lovecraftian horror with video gaming’s ultimate activity, fishing, is being developed as a live-action movie, producers of the adaptation announced Tuesday. Working with Dredge developer Black Salt Games to make the film a reality is production company Story Kitchen, which was co-founded by Sonic the Hedgehog movie producer and dj2 Entertainment founder Dmitri M. Johnson.

Co-op horror title Content Warning was the fifth biggest seller on Steam last week.

Friday the 13th: The Game continues to be a legal nightmare for anyone involved. The team behind the Resurrected mod announced that the project's future is up in the air after receiving a copyright infringement claim.

Buckshot Roulette is simple, and simply unsettling. Sat across the table from a mysterious opponent clad in a deeply unnerving toothy mask, you pick up a shotgun loaded with shells. Then, you decide whether to point the gun at your opponent or yourself, and pull the trigger. Some of the shells are live, and others are blanks. Guess correctly, and you get to go again.

Sableye, the unassuming Ghost-Dark hybrid, is actually based on a real-life monster encounter. Introduced in, this Gen-3 Pokémon quickly became a fan favorite for its unique design and adaptability in battle, thanks to its hybrid nature and prankster abilities. Its anime debut came in, where it was wielded by Cassidy of Team Rocket. While portrayed Sableye as harmless, that perception would change with its main-series debut. The episode “Ready, Willing, & Sableye” is where it would be more accurately depicted as the real-world creatures its design is based on.

Greetings, Polygon readers! Each week, we round up the most notable new releases to streaming and VOD, highlighting the biggest and best new movies for you to watch at home.

The internet is often accused of annihilating the personhood of other people, encouraging everyone on it to regard only themselves as whole, complex individuals worthy of empathy, and everyone else as pond scum. This is a dire read, but not an inaccurate one. Driving, however, should get some credit for doing the same first.

We love movie recommendations here at Polygon. Whether it’s horror, sci-fi, action, comedy, thrillers, or just the best of the year, we’re always trying to introduce readers to new and exciting movies they’ll love. But now we want to find the perfect movie for you. (That’s you.)